The Time of The Master
by falloutdreamer
Summary: We saw what's happened in The Time Of The Doctor. But while watching Clara and the Doctor, how do we know what's happened on the other side of the crack?


**"And if you love him, and you should, help him. Help him."**

The Master budged a little. What this girl is talking about? _"If you love him..." _Does he? Is he really capable of loving someone?

Everyone has feelings. It's something you're born with. Although there's always an alternative- you can turn it off, suppress emotions that make you broken and unable to function properly. But whatever you do, you can not forget.

It was a long time since he had admitted loving someone. He said it once, he said it twice, he said it so many times they could be written down as a novel. Maybe a whole series. He still remembers every single one. Every of his "I love you" was directed to the only person in the whole universe he had cared about. His first and last love, best friend, the one & only being in the Universe that truly mattered.

But then something went terribly wrong, and nothing was the same. He lost everything he had got, including his mind. There was just one thing left. The unceasing beat of the drums.

_(One, two, three, four... _Over and over again. No break, not a single moment of silence. Just the drums...)

The Master lost his only friend. They became enemies. But actually, did they? Not quite. A part of the Master was protective of the Doctor He hated it but he couldn't deny it was real. Not to mention the other Time Lord. The only one who believed he can help and stop the drums, the pain, EVERYTHING that bothered the Master and kept driving him crazy.

_"You're a genius. You're stone cold brilliant, you are, I swear, you really are. But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful. With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be my honour." _

The Master can't remember how many times the Doctor tried to stop him and offered help instead of a war. The Master didn't really hear it.

All he could hear was the sound of drums. He cried for help but it was only a quiet voice in his head. The drums were a part of him, he couldn't have got rid of it. Maybe he didn't even want to? It was what he was made of.

_"I don't know what I'd be without that noise,"_ he told the Doctor once and the other Time Lord replied: _'I wonder what I'd be without you.'_

"Yeah," thought the Master. "I've wondered many times, my dear Doctor. Would you be who you are if we never met? Would you be a hero travelling time and space in the blue box? Because you are a hero, you always were. The drums created my madness, my madness created you. If there's a villain, there must be also a hero. There was me and there were you. Just the two of us, fighting each other. Every me and every you. Together. For always."

But now it's over. He doesn't have to fight anymore, he doesn't have a reason to fight. The drums are gone, the Master could have called himself free if he was not stuck here, on Gallifrey- frozen in time and shunted into a secondary universe. And the Doctor? Well, he's far away. Probably saving the world, as he always does.

But apparently now the hero is the one who needs help.

This voice, it must be the voice of his companion... Clara, is that her name? It doesn't matter now. She's crying for help for the Doctor. The Master always thought it's funny how easily the Doctor made those humans creatures love him. However, he doesn't find it strange or disgusting; that's just a normal thing people mostly do when they meet the Doctor. His charm melts those little human hearts. Just like it had melted his own hearts a long time ago...

The Master pushed the memories out of his mind and came back to the words he's hearing from the other side of the crack.

There was something in this voice that told the Master the case is really serious this time. The Doctor isn't a child, he is clever, he's brilliant, he always appears to save the day.

But this time, he just can't do anything. This time there's no other way. He will die. No more incarnations, no more regenerations. No more Doctor.

The world without the Doctor? The Master can hardly imagine that.

_'I wonder what I'd be without you...'_

After all this time... After everything they had got through... Is it the end? Maybe now it's gonna be finally _good_? The drums are gone, the Doctor might be as well. Two biggest issues the Master has ever had. Now they seem to be finally solved. Is that what he's ever wanted? He partly used to destroy the Doctor. More than once. Now he has a chance to get rid of him once and for all. Without the Doctor, there is no one who can stop him...

_Without the Doctor..._

Without the Doctor there's no one who can stop the Master from going down again. No one who actually _cares _about him. No one who can give him a chance. No one who is really important and worth living for.

The Master shook his head and quietly sighed: "Theta..."

He knows exactly what to do. He won't lose him again. He won't let the Doctor die, he can never let this happen. Because the truth is, all the time when the hatred was keeping the Master alive, he didn't realize there's something else. Something he was missing, something that caused this emptiness inside the Master's hearts. If he had realized it earlier, maybe the drums would be gone a long time ago.

He should have known it for sure when he saved him the last time they met. He should have realized what's going on.

He _loved_ the Doctor.

He has never stopped. He hated him but he loved him.

No, no, he didn't hate the Doctor... The Master hated himself for loving him, for letting him down, for hurting him.

Now it's over. He will never let do this to his Doctor again. Now he will save his life because the world needs the Doctor. And so does he.

...

The Master is watching the Doctor saving the world again. He keeps his eye on him, smiling slightly while he's observing what is happening.

"Love from Gallifrey, boys!" the Doctor screamed as he unleashed a blast from his head that obliterates the Dalek ship above, sending out a shock wave destroying all Daleks in the area.

The Master chuckled and nodded: "That's my boy!"

Now the Doctor has another regeneration cycle. And one day, they will meet again. He felt it in his bones. The soulmates must meet again. It's their fate. They are connected and this kind of thread may stretch and tangle, but it never breaks. One can find the other and one day they will. And when it happens, the Master will tell him... He will tell him everything. He knows the Doctor will understand, he always does.

The Master grinned as he spoke to himself: "New cycle, new you. Well, well, dear Doctor... You can change your face and body as many times as you wanna but there are some things that will never change. And I can firmly assure you there's no easy way to get rid of me."


End file.
